Washing machine with vacuum drying



June 16, 1953 w, JQHNSQNI 2,641,916

WASHING MACHINE WITH VACUUM DRYING Filed Feb. 23, 1950 I I .1 n I FIG-3 IN VEN TOR.

GEORGE W. JOHNSON BY fl mwwmm ATTORNEYS Patented June 16, 1953 Um'rsos'rA'rss rarest OFFICE.

WASHINGMACHINE WITH VACUUM DRYING George W. Johnson, Cincinnati,0hio,.assignor to The'kimerican Laundry Machinery Company, Cincinnati, Ohio; a corporation of Ohio Application February 23, 1950;.SerialNo. 145,748.

8 Claims. 1 This. invention. relates to improvements. in a. washing: machine with vacuum. drying.

One: of the objects of the present invention is to: provide: a novel combination. of means for washing: clothes, means for applying at least a partial. vacuum. to the clothes to extract the water or detergent. from them, and means for drawing: a limited. amount of air through the clothes while they are under pressureqso as to provide better. extraction than is possible with vacuum drying: alone;

Aiurther: object of the present invention is the provision. of arubber lined tub with means thereinxior. producing washing, agitation. of the-clothes. together: with. pump. meansfor removing the liquid: or: detergent iromthe washing conta-inerand connected to the; bottom thereon. and: separate means: for: pumping. at least part of the. air out ofztheicontainer and connected at thetop thereof ,sozasato; create;- a partial vacuum within the container; causing the. rubber lining of the: tub to be pressed. in upon the clothes by atmospheric pressure to dry them..

A-furtherobject of thepresent invention is. to'

provide in the combination of the preceding paragraph,. means for admitting a controlled amount. of. air to the bottom of the containerand adia'cent the clothes in the container during the vacuum. drying, periods so that-the vacuum pump will. suck a. limitedlamount' of air upwardly through: the clothes bundle, the inspirated air passing: upwardly and through the top vacuum; connection;

Other objects and advantages of the present invention: will be apparent. from the accompany-- in'g' drawings; and description and. the essential features willbe set. forth in the appended claims.

In the? drawings.-- I

Fig; l: is a diagrammatic view ofa. washing machine. equipped with my invention, the washing tub and agitator being shown in. central sec.- tional View;

Fig.2 is a. view similar to Fig. 1 but. showing another position or the parts; while Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken. along the line '3-3. of Fig. 1.

It is well. known in. the art of. washing and drying, clothes that the liquid or detergent used during the washing operation may be to a large extent: expelled. from theclothes by producing. a vacuum within the clothes container. and.providing. a. movable: member of piston or diaphragm type which presses. down uponthe clothes bundle andsqueezes: the water or liquid.- determent out of; thEiClOth-BSL I have discovered that by passing a stream. of air. generally distributed. through. the. clothes bundle while itis. under the-drying. compression, the rate of extraction of liquid. de tergent may be greatly improved.

One form in which I have conceived my in:- vention. is illustrated in the drawing. The. tub. l0, suitably supported by means. notshown, is. provided with an opening [I at. the top. for the introduction and removal. of clothes. Substantially the entire interior of. the tub is lined. with a flexible liquid.- and air-tight lining. I-Z gen-' erally oi rubberlike material. Suitableagitat ing means is provided inside of. thetub for. producing a washing action of the. clothes. In the present instance, I have shown. an agitator I13- having radially extending blades. [3a and an. up.- standing. perforated central. tube. l3b. having a plurality of perforations IA, The blades. |.3.a are. connected. together. by abottom. web through which are provided a number of. openings l.5if.or

' The lining; i2 is secured to the tub in at. the

bottom. central. portion or zone indicated at I18 and properly sealed around. the shaft. 16. The.

lining I 2 extends around the mouth of the opening. Has indicated. at IZa and there. provides, a good seal for the flange of a cover. I9 which closesthe opening I i and, upon. creation of a. partial vacuum in the chamber 20,. is. sucked tightly inwardly providing a seal around the entire periphery. of the cover [9. The cover has. a central portion. [9a. extending. downwardly t'o-the upper end. of the tubular agitator portion i321. Centrally of. the cover there is. proyid'ed a. passageway 2! which communicates. through. a. hollow hinge 22 with. a suction line 23',.which. in turn leads to a suction or vacuum. pump .24 which may be ofthe rubber vane type. A 'normally closed relief valve 25' on top of the. cover l9 communicates with. the passageway zi'and provides. an opening at 2521 so that,. upon. opera-- tion of the. valve 25, vacuum. insidev of. the; l2. may be broken to permit. the opening of" the cover 19 as. will later appear.

Thev removal of water. or liquid detergent from. within the lining [2, after a. washing. or rinsing. operation, is. provided. by means; of. a. conduit. 26 which. communicates with the interior of the. lining. 1.2. through. a. suitable opening in. the. bottom of the tub l0 and the lining. I2. Thisv open.-

ing is suitably sealed by a fitting 21 which is drawn down tightly by the nut 28. A valve 29 provided with an operating solenoid 30 controls communication through the pipe or conduit 26. This pipe communicates in turn with a reservoir 3|. The outlet from the bottom of the reservoir is through pipe 32 controlled by valve 33 which in turn is operated by solenoid 34. The removal of water or liquid detergent is provided by means of the pump 35 which may be of the intermeshing metal gear type. An electric motor 36 provided with a suitable power source (not shown) may be selectively connected by clutch 31 with pump 35, or by clutch 38 with pump 24. Manual or automatic control means is provided for the clutches 31 and 38 but these are not shown as they are unnecessary to the understanding of the present invention.

Another drain pipe 39 communicates through plate H. with the hollow of the tube I31). This pipe 39 extends to a point near the bottom of reservoir 35. As best seen in Fig. 3, an arcuate opening Ila is provided through the plate I! above the upper end of pipe 39. Those skilled in this art will understand that the agitator I3 is reciprocated or oscillated back and forth a predetermined number of times according to the setting of the control mechanism. This curved slot l'la islong enough to maintain communication with the pipe 39 regardless of the position in which the agitator stops. It will be noted that that portion of the pipe 32 inside of the reservoir 3 i extends upwardly as indicated at 32a to a level above the bottom of pipe 39 suificient so that a liquid seal is provided in the reservoir 3| preventing the suction of air upwardly through the pipe 39 during a vacuum drying operation as will presently appear.

Means is provided so that a small amount of air will pass upwardly through the clothes bundle during the extraction process. The means here shown comprises a small pipe 40 communicating with the upper portion of reservoir 3| and having a control valve 4| which may well be of the needle valve type so as to give a fine control. When there is a suction in the passageway 2|, a small amount of air will pass through valve 4| and pipe 43 and through the upper portion of reservoir 3| and thence upwardly through pipe 26 and through the openings l5, then through the clothes bundle and then through the openings l4 and tube |3b to the passageway 2|. It will be understood by those familiar with this art that a separate pipe might be utilized for the passage of air from receiver 3| upwardly through the clothes, or even independently of the receiver 3|, but I prefer to use a pipe 26 which is suificiently large to permit water to run down part of the pipe section while air is passing upwardly through the same pipe.

The operation of my improved device will then be as follows:

Assuming that the tub and its lining |2 are partially filled with water or liquid detergent after a washing or rinsing operation, when the liquid detergent is to be drained from the machine, the solenoids 33 and 34 will be operated to open valves 29 and 33 which are of the normally closed type. The motor 36 is energized and the clutch 31 is thrown into the drive position so as to operate the pump 35 and withdraw the liquid detergent through pipe 32, reservoir 3| and pipe 23, the same being discharged through the discharge conduit 32. The pump 35, being of the intermeshing metallic gear type, will pump liquid 4 but not air from the chamber 23. After the water has been removed, the clutch 31 is disengaged and the clutch 33 is engaged to drive the vacuum pump 24. This pump will create a suction in the pipe 23 and passageway 2| and will pump air out of the chamber 20 causing the flexible lining l2 to collapse to a position roughly illustrated in Fig. 2. One or more vents lfla is provided through the tub |0 so as to permit atmospheric air to enter the chamber 4 between the tub |0 and'the lining I2. The atmospheric air pressure will thus cause a squeezing of the bundle of clothes indicated at 45 between the flexible lining |2 in the position of Fig. 2 and the agitator l3 in the center of the tub. During the operation of pump 24, the solenoid 34 would not be operated and therefore valve 33 would remain closed. However, solenoid 39 would be energized and valve 29 would be open. Water or liquid detergent squeezed out of the clothes by the pressure of the lining |2 upon them would pass downwardly through the pipe 23 and into the reservoir 3|. The reservoir 3| is of sumcient capacity to hold the amount of water or liquid detergent removed from the work during the vacuum extraction operation and the reservoir 3| will be emptied down to the top of the pipeportion 32a the next time pump 35 is operatedwith valve 33 open.

The vent 43, 4| prevents the reservoir 3| from becoming air bound during a vacuum extraction operation, and it also acts as a means for permitting the flow of a predetermined amount of air through the work during the vacuum extraction period. The valve 4| may be of such a capacity that when full open it will allow the desired amount of air fiow. Otherwise, the valve 4| might be marked for adjustment to a predetermined point to provide a predetermined fiow or an orifice of fixed value might be placed in the pipe 40. Air entering through valve 4| and pipe 40 will pass through the top of reservoir 3| and up a portion of the pipe 23 beneath the bottom agitator flange I30. Here the air will be distributed among a large number of openings It so as to pass in a relatively even manner upwardly through the clothes and thence through the openings l4 and central tube |3b to the passageway 2| and so out to the line 23, pump 24, and the dicharge pipe 43. During this operation, a certain amount of liquid will be deposited inside of the pipe l3b. This liquid will pass through the opening Na and pipe 39 to tank 3|. There is sufiicient seal between the top of pipe portion 32a and the bottom of pipe 39, in tank 3|, to prevent air being sucked from the top portion of reservoir 3| through pipe 33 and thence outwardly, thus bypassing the work.

I contemplate that a vacuum of the order of eight to sixteen inches of mercury gauge will be sufficient to cause the squeezing action upon the clothes bundle which I desire. However, those familiar with this art will arrange the degree of vacuum as necessary to produce the result.

Using a twenty minute cycle, which is a common drying period, I find 1.22 pounds of moisture remaining in one pound of clothes by the passage of four cubic feet of air per minute per square foot of suction area through the work. By increasing the above flow to thirty-six cubic feet of air per minute per square foot of suction area, the extraction leaves .9 pound of water in one pound of clothes. In a similar fashion eighty cubic feet of air per minute leaves .7 pound of moisture in a pound of clothes and one hundred thirty cubic feet of air per minute leaves .55 pound of moisture in one pound of clothes. The household industry, generally speaking, is at present commonly getting about 125% extraction or leaves 1.25 pounds of moisture in one pound of clothes. The above figures will indicate that by causing the flow of air through the bundle of clothes during the vacuum drying period, as above described, the extraction of liquid detergent may be greatly improved as the quoted figures will show;

What I claim is: V

1. In a washing machine, a tub, a flexible liquidand air-tight lining inside of said tub, mea'ns'for closing said tub air-tight, laundry washing means within said lining, means for withdrawing liquid and air from the interior of said lining to create at least a partial vacuum within said lining, whereby to squeeze the liquid out of the laundry by the pressure of the atmosphere against the outside of said liningand means for introducing a limited amount or air into said lining only at a point thereof removed from said air withdrawing means while said air withdrawing means is operating, to cause said air to pass through said laundry to said withdrawing means, said limited amount of air being insufficient to break said partial vacuum.

2. In a washing machine, a tub, a flexible liquidand air-tight lining inside of said tub, means for closing said tub air-tight, laundry washing means within said lining, a pump for I withdrawing liquid from the interior of said lining, an inlet for said pump communicating with the interior of said lining through the bottom of said tub, a second pump for withdrawing air from the interior of said lining to create at least a partial vacuum within said lining, whereby to squeeze liquid out of laundry by the pressure of the atmosphere against the outside of said lining, an inlet for said second pump communicating with the interior of said lining through the upper portion of said tub, and an atmospheric vent communicating with the lower portion of the interior of said lining when said second pump is operating, whereby to draw air from said vent through said laundry to said second pump thereby carrying more moisture out of the laundry, said'vent being of a size insuflicient to break said partial vacuum.

3. In a washing machine, a tub, a flexible liquidand air-tight lining inside of said tub, means for closing said tub air-tight, an upstanding agitator located centrally of said tub and inside of said lining, said lining having side walls and a bottom wall of sufficient extent to wholly surround a bundle of laundry about said agitator, a pump for withdrawing liquid from the interior of said lining, an inlet for said pump communicating with the interior of said lining through the bottom of said tub, a second pump for withdrawing air from the interior of said lining to create at least a partial vacuum within said lining, whereby to squeeze liquid out of laundry by the pressure of the atmosphere against the outside of said lining, an inlet for said second pump communicating with the interior of said lining through the upper portion of said tub, and an atmospheric vent communicating with the lower portion of the interior of said lining beneath said laundry bundle when said second pump is operating, whereby to draw air from said vent through said laundry to said second pump thereby carrying more moisture out of the laundry, said vent 6, being of a size insuflicient to break said partial vacuum.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said agitator has a perforated bottom flange and has a hollow central tube with perforations through its walls, whereby said laundry bundle is compressed against said tube when said second pump has created said partial vacuum within said lining, said second pump inlet extending to a point adjacent the upper-end of said tube, and said vent communicating through said lining with the under side of said bottom flange, said air entering through said vent and passing through said compressed laundry bundle and through said perforated central tube to said second pump inlet.

5. The combination of claim 3 including a reservoir in said first named pump inlet, a valve controlling flow through said first named inlet between said tub and said reservoir, and a valve controlling flow through said first named inlet between said reservoir and said first named pump, said reservoir being of a capacity to hold the water squeezed out of a batch of laundry by pressure of said lining thereupon.

6. In a washing machine, a tub, a flexible liquidand air-tight lining inside of said tub, means for closing said tub air-tight, an upstanding agitator located centrally of said tub and inside of said lining, said agitator having a perforated bottom flange and having a hollow upstanding central tube with perforations through its walls, said lining having side walls and a bottom wall of sufiicient extent to wholly surround a bundle of laundry about said agitator, a pump for withdrawing liquid from the interior of said lining, an inlet for said pump communicating with the interior of said lining through the bottom of said tub and beneath said agitator bottom flange, a second pump for withdrawing air from the interior of said lining to create at least a partial vacuum within said lining, whereby to squeeze liquid out of laundry by the pressure of the atmosphere against the outside of said lining, an inlet for said second pump communicating with the interior of said lining adjacent the upper end of said agitator tube, a reservoir in said first named pump inlet, a valve controlling fiow through said first named inlet between said tub and said reservoir, a valve controlling flow through said first named inlet between said reservoir and said first named pump, there being a vent through the upper portion of said reservoir communicating with the atmosphere, means for controlling a predetermined flow of air through said vent insufficient to break said partial vacuum, a drain pipe communicating between the lower end of said agitator tube and the lower portion of said reservoir, and means for maintaining a liquid seal in the bottom of said reservoir and above the lower end of said last named drain pipe.

7. In a washing machine, a substantially airtight container for laundry and liquid detergent including a flexible lining adapted to press inwardly against said laundry, means for removing liquid detergent from said container, the outside of said lining being subjected to atmospheric pressure, means for creating at least a partial vacuum within said lining sufficient to cause atmospheric pressure to press said lining in against said laundry to squeeze it, a reservoir in a conduit leading to said vacuum creating means and in communication with the interior of said lining at the bottom of said container to receive liquid squeezed out of said laundry, and means for introducing a limited amount of air into said laundry at a point thereof removed. from said vacuum creating means while said vacuum creating means is operating, to cause said limited amount of air to pass through said laundry to said vacuum creating means, said limited amount of air being insufficient to break said partial vacuum.

8. In a washing machine, a substantially airtight container for laundry and liquid detergent including a flexible lining adapted to press inwardly against said laundry, means for agitating laundry when the latter is inside said container, means for removing liquid detergent from said container, the outside of said lining being subjected to atmospheric pressure, means for creating at least a partial vacuum Within said lining suflicient to cause atmospheric pressure to press said lining in against said laundry to squeeze it, a reservoir in a conduit leading to said vacuum creating means and in communication with the interior of said lining at the bottom of said container to receive liquid squeezed out of said laundry, and means for introducing a limited GEORGE W. JOHNSON.

References Cited in the file of this patent,

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,937,860 Watkins Dec. 5, 1933' 2,178,385 Alward Oct. 31, 1939 2,335,560 Crane Nov. 30, 1943. 2,449,634 Baade Sept. 21, 1948 2,472,682 Rand June '7, 1949 2,528,476 Roos et a1. Oct. 31, 1950 2,593,292 Gaugler Apr. 15, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date Australia 1935.. 

